Sources: Miles to forgo WNBA draft, enter portal

Notre Dame guard Olivia Miles will forgo the WNBA draft and enter the transfer portal, sources told ESPN's Shams Charania on Monday.

The projected No. 2 pick, Miles had said she was undecided about whether or not she would enter the draft. Many players have opted to return to school for their final year of eligibility. What makes her choice seismic is her decision to enter the portal and leave Notre Dame.

"It just changes every day. I love college. I think I've outgrown it a little bit, though, so that makes my decision tougher to stay. It's comfortable, a place where you have security," Miles said after Notre Dame's Sweet 16 loss on Saturday.

"The W ... the volatility is up and down. So I don't know. I'm deciding between a bunch of factors."

Miles is draft-eligible because she has been in college for four seasons and is already 22. Her remaining year of college eligibility comes from sitting out 2023-24 with a knee injury she suffered at the end of the 2022-23 regular season.

The junior guard returned to start all 34 games this year and averaged a career-high 15.4 points on 48.3% field goal shooting. Her 3-point shooting took a major jump, going from a 22.8% clip last season to 40.6% this year.

Following her final home game in South Bend after the Round of 32, Miles took a moment to thank the fans for their support -- somewhat of a signal that her time as an Irish could have ended.

Miles, along with teammates Hannah Hidalgo and Sonia Citron were wildly considered one of the best backcourts in college basketball this season, and they led the Irish to the No. 1 spot in the AP polls for the first time since 2019 after handing UCLA its first loss of the season.

But toward the end of the season, Notre Dame started to struggle toward the end of the year -- dropping two of their last three regular-season games. They were a the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament but got ousted in the second round. That landed them a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament.

The Irish hoped they were still poised for a deep run, but instead lost in the Sweet 16 to a TCU team that had never made the Elite Eight before.

After Notre Dame's 71-62 loss to TCU, she said that the thought of joining the WNBA in just a few months was a daunting one, and that having an off-season would be nice after suffering an ankle injury during the Sweet 16 game. At the same time, passing up on the opportunity to be a lottery pick was "a lot to give up."

But now, she will give that up and look for a new start elsewhere.